Introduction

Mechanics is the oldest and the most highly developed branch

of physics. As important foundation of engineering, its relevance
continues to increase as its range of application grows.
The tasks of mechanics include the description and determi-
nation of the motion of bodies, as well as the investigation of the
forces associated with the motion. Technical examples of such mo-
tions are the rolling wheel of a vehicle, the flow of a fluid in a duct,
the flight of an airplane and the orbit of a satellite. “Motion” in
a generalized sense includes the deflection of a bridge or the de-
formation of a structural element under the influence of a load.
An important special case is the state of rest; a building, dam or
television tower should be constructed in such a way that it does
not move or collapse.
Mechanics is based on only a few laws of nature, which have
an axiomatic character. These are statements based on numerous
observations and regarded as being known from experience. The
conclusions drawn from these laws are also confirmed by experi-
ence. Mechanical quantities such as velocity, mass, force, momen-
tum or energy describing the mechanical properties of a system are
connected within these axioms and within the resulting theorems.
Real bodies or real technical systems with their multifaceted
properties are neither considered in the basic principles nor in
their applications to technical problems. Instead, models are in-
vestigated that possess the essential mechanical characteristics of
the real bodies or systems. Examples of these idealisations are a
rigid body or a mass point. Of course, a real body or a structural
element is always deformable to a certain extent. However, they
may be considered as being rigid bodies if the deformation does
not play an essential role in the behaviour of the mechanical sys-
tem. To investigate the arc of a thrown stone or the orbit of a
planet in the solar system, it is usually sufficient to view these
bodies as being mass points, since their dimensions are very small
compared with the distances covered.
In mechanics we use mathematics as an exact language. Only
mathematics enables precise formulation without reference to a
2 Introduction

certain place or a certain time and allows to describe and compre-

hend mechanical processes. If an engineer wants to solve a tech-
nical problem with the aid of mechanics he or she has to replace
the real technical system with a model that can be analysed ma-
thematically by applying the basic mechanical laws. Finally, the
mathematical solution has to be interpreted mechanically and eva-
luated technically.
Since it is essential to learn and understand the basic princip-
les and their correct application from the beginning, the question
of modelling will be mostly left out of this text, since it requi-
res a high degree of competence and experience. The mechanical
analysis of an idealised system in which the real technical system
may not always be easily recognised is, however, not simply an
unrealistic game. It will familiarise students with the principles
of mechanics and thus enable them to solve practical engineering
problems independently.
Mechanics may be classified according to various criteria. De-
pending on the state of the material under consideration, one
speaks of the mechanics of solids, hydrodynamics or gasdynamics.
In this text we will consider solid bodies only, which can be clas-
sified as rigid, elastic or plastic bodies. In the case of a liquid one
distinguishes between a frictionless and a viscous liquid. Again,
the characteristics rigid, elastic or viscous are idealisations that
make the essential properties of the real material accessible to
mathematical treatment.
According to the main task of mechanics, namely, the investi-
gation of the state of rest or motion under the action of forces, me-
chanics may be divided into statics and dynamics. Statics (Latin:
status = standing) deals with the equilibrium of bodies subjected
to forces. Dynamics (Greek: dynamis = force) is subdivided into
kinematics and kinetics. Kinematics (Greek: kinesis = movement)
investigates the motion of bodies without referring to forces as a
cause or result of the motion. This means that it deals with the
geometry of the motion in time and space, whereas kinetics relates
the forces involved and the motion.
Alternatively, mechanics may be divided into analytical mecha-
nics and engineering mechanics. In analytical mechanics, the ana-
 Introduction 3

lytical methods of mathematics are applied with the aim of gaining

principal insight into the laws of mechanics. Here, details of the
problems are of no particular interest. Engineering mechanics con-
centrates on the needs of the practising engineer. The engineer has
to analyse bridges, cranes, buildings, machines, vehicles or com-
ponents of microsystems to determine whether they are able to
sustain certain loads or perform certain movements.
The historical origin of mechanics can be traced to ancient
Greece, although of course mechanical insight derived from expe-
rience had been applied to tools and devices much earlier. Several
cornerstones on statics were laid by the works of Archimedes (287–
212): lever and fulcrum, block and tackle, center of gravity and
buoyancy. Nothing more of great importance was discovered until
the time of the Renaissance. Further progress was then made by
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), with his observations of the equi-
librium on an inclined plane, and by Simon Stevin (1548–1620),
with his discovery of the law of the composition of forces. The first
investigations on dynamics can be traced back to Galileo Galilei
(1564–1642) who discovered the law of gravitation. The laws of
planetary motion by Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) and the nume-
rous works of Christian Huygens (1629–1695), finally led to the
formulation of the laws of motion by Isaac Newton (1643–1727).
At this point, tremendous advancement was initiated, which went
hand in hand with the development of analysis and is associated
with the Bernoulli family (17th and 18th century), Leonhard Eu-
ler (1707–1783), Jean Lerond D’Alembert (1717–1783) and Joseph
Louis Lagrange (1736–1813). As a result of the progress made in
analytical and numerical methods – the latter especially boosted
by computer technology – mechanics today continues to enlarge
its field of application and makes more complex problems accessi-
ble to exact analysis. Mechanics also has its place in branches of
sciences such as medicine, biology and the social sciences, through
the application of modelling and mathematical analysis.